Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned
by SCprincessSC
Summary: L/J Lily intensely hates James but what will it take James to prove to Lily that he will always love her? Friendship break-ups, endless tears and a lot of hexes.


**Chapter One: Draught of Living Deaf**

"No, No, Pettigrew, you've got to chop those valerian roots really small, not big."

Lily struggled to hold in a sigh. It was a nightmare trying to be patient with Peter Pettigrew when they were set a task of creating the potion '_Draught of Living Death'_.

And Lily was well aware as soon as Slughorn paired her with Pettigrew, she would have to have the upper hand in creating it. Because Peter didn't have a clue. Not a _bloody _clue. She struggled to hold in a frustrated groan when Peter reached for an ingredient, ready to dunk it into the cauldron.

"Not yet," hissed Lily, pushing his hand away, perhaps a little too forcefully.

"Sorry, Lily," Peter quivered and she couldn't help feeling a slight stab of guilt. Perhaps she was being too hard on the poor guy. She couldn't blame him for his sheer incompetence when it came to his studies.

"It's okay," Lily sighed, trying desperately hard to inject comfort into her already steel-like voice. "Listen, why don't you let me take over? You've done half of it." Indeed, their potion had already turned into a blackcurrant- coloured liquid. Lily, glancing around the room, realising that they had, in fact, progressed quicker than some of the class. Most of the Slytherins were looking into their cauldrons with looks of dismay and Lily craned her neck to see Karen O'Slightly, her best friend, stir her potion vigorously before turning to Lily with wild desperation clear in her huge blue eyes. Lily shot her a sad smile. She wished she could help. She heard a few snickers behind her and turned to see Sirius and James laughing and pointing to someone in the far right of the classroom. Severus. Just by looking at him, Lily could feel both sadness and anger take control of her. It had been only yesterday. Yesterday since she had broken a five-year friendship. And sometimes she wondered if it was for that one, petty thing he had said. It was, as he had tried to justify, a mere '_slip of the tongue'. _But Lily had seen beyond that. How he would soon come to hate anything that did not act in accordance to the world of magic. He was nearly always in the company of those cold-hearted, inconsiderate Slytherins who took pleasure in torturing people that were not of magical heritage. And Lily could never bring herself to look Severus in the eyes if he associated himself with people like _that_. She turned around again to peer into Sirius and James's cauldron. Damn. The liquid in it was precisely the same colour as hers. Which meant that they were doing everything right. But she quickly turned around and busied herself when she caught James's eye. Great. Any minute now, he was going to-

"Evans! Did you need any help?" James's voice echoed around the dungeon and, no doubt, arousing everyone's curiosity. She could feel Severus's eyes on her and heard Karen's hiss of annoyance. They both shared an intense hatred towards _Potter's Gang_, as they liked to call it. They couldn't understand how almost the whole school seemed to worship the ground they walked on. They were arrogant attention-seekers. Well, besides Peter and Remus. Lily genuinely liked Remus. He seemed to be the only one of the group that was mature for his age.

"No. I was just _looking_," Lily replied, silently seething. She wished James would drop the subject already. She could feel the heat travelling through her body, staining her pale cheeks a bright red. The heat from the cauldron was doing nothing to help this cause, if only, probably making her turn brighter with embarrassment. She couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her throat when Slughorn's voice jerked everyone out of the banter between James and Lily herself.

"Ten minutes!" Everyone immediately got back to work.

"Honestly, Pettigrew, I can't seem to understand why you like those two," Lily muttered to him as she carried on with the potion. Peter had the grace to look a little ashamed.

"It's only when you're around, Lily. You know how he acts. If only you'd just go out-"

"Absolutely _bloody _not," Lily fumed. She was aghast. Go out with James? She'd sooner hang herself. She finished the potion and poured it into the little bottle provided. She couldn't wait to get out of here. Perhaps she could just take the potion up to Slughorn and complain about a headache. Slughorn wouldn't be able to protest, after all, her potion was done to perfection and she knew that she would be capable of getting away with murder without Slughorn batting an eyelash. The whole class knew that she was his favourite student. And today, she would use that to her advantage. She steadily walked up to his desk and carefully placed the bottle at the centre. Slughorn looked up, beaming when he noticed it was her.

"Ah, Miss Evans! Completed already, I see?" He silently surveyed the potion with a look of delight.

"Yes, Professor," Lily answered, making sure to let a pained expression cross her face. "Professor, I was wondering if you could allow me to make a quick trip to the hospital wing. You see I don't feel very well." Lily held a hand to her head, faking a headache. Slughorn looked worried.

"Yes, Miss Evans, you don't look very well at all. Quite flustered, in fact. Perhaps a good deal of fresh air would do the trick. You may go, but certainly not unaccompanied. Let's see…who's finished?" Slughorn muttered to himself, swiftly looking across the room. Lily silently begged to herself that Karen was finished. Perhaps then they could just detour to the common room, have a chat…"

"Ah, yes! Of course. Mr Potter, if you would please be kind enough to escort Miss Evans to the hospital wing. She doesn't feel well…" Lily shut her eyes and groaned softly. Great. Just bloody brilliant.

"Of course, Professor," came a cocky voice and she felt an arm wrap gently around her waist. The urge to turn around, whack James around the head, whip out her wand and curse him into oblivion was proving all too much to bear. She let out another groan of frustration, which Slughorn seemed to confuse with one of pain for he said to James, "You'd better be quick, or she might pass out…" Lily was then gently being pushed out of the classroom, but not before shooting Karen a look of exasperation and she could have sworn she saw Sirius wink at James as they passed. Idiots. She'd make sure that the trip from the dungeons to the hospital wing was the worst five minutes James would ever spend with a living person.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James ruffle his hair with his right hand and glance at her. She promptly ignored him, hoping he would return the favour. Not likely.

"So…Evans…how's it going?"

"Fine," she said coldly. "You know, we can go our own way. You can go up to the common room if you want and I'll just go to the hospital wing. Slughorn will never know," she added quickly. To her surprise, James laughed.

"I don't think so, Evans. It _is_ a tempting suggestion, but I reckon we should spend this time to know each other. After all, we're in the same house. We now both hate old _Snivellus_-"

"Don't call him that," Lily cut in irritably. "He may not be my friend anymore, but I don't like you badmouthing him either. He's a good person at heart, Potter. He was just…influenced by the wrong people." James stared at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"Do you _always_ do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Defend even the most…_vile_ people. Do you always see good in everyone?"

"Potter, everyone has a good and bad side. It's what makes us human," Lily answered, surprised that she was actually having a conversation with James that didn't involve hexing words.

"Then why can't you see the good side in _me_?" James was taking a step closer to Lily and she was somehow rooted to the spot, unable to take her green eyes off his hazel. "Why won't you give me a chance, Lily? Just a chance. It's all I'm asking of you." There was a sizzling pause in which Lily was actually _considering _James's offer. Until she realised this was the notorious Potter she was thinking of listening to. The one she had resented since first year. The one who hexed people for the fun of it. The one who bullied Severus, her once close friend, to no end.

"For the last time, Potter. I will _not _go out with you! Are you deaf?"

"Not deaf, Evans, just persistent," James said huskily, not taking his eyes off her. "You'll give in. One day you will." Lily snorted with laughter.

"In your dreams, Potter." The hallway was suddenly filled with students bustling around, trying to get to their next lesson. They pushed past them and James still hadn't taken her eyes off her. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, suddenly self- conscious.

"What is it?" she asked. James shook his head and smiled as if sharing a private joke with himself.

"Nothing."

"Go on, spit it out." Lily's past irritability was coming out again but before she could pester James more, there was a nudge on her left and she turned to see Karen, out of breath and looking in curiosity between Lily and James.

"Still feeling sick?" she asked. Lily shrugged and turned to James.

"It's okay, Karen will take me to the hospital wing. Why not go and bully some first years. It's what you do best, isn't it, Potter?" She didn't miss the flash of anger pass his eyes and turned away from him before she had to hear his angry retort.

"Good riddance," Karen muttered. But Lily couldn't shake the feeling of guilt off her. She shouldn't have angered James. Something told her that she would soon face the consequences of such an action…

**So what do you think? Good? Bad? Should this story be ended already? Hit the review button and share your opinions on this story! The more reviews, the better! **


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